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Sunday, February 03, 2008

"Crafts and Hobbies" is the theme of the prompts I've posted for Week Thirty over at my other blog, AnceStories2: Stories of Me for My Descendants. I've been in a "crafty mood" lately and thought it would be a good idea to write about. Girls are usually taught things like needlework from their mother's line, and boys are often shown how to do woodwork and other hobbies from the men in their families. I know from written records that she left in the family history book that my direct maternal great-grandmother, Lillian Fern Strong, could sew and crochet. She taught sewing to her daughter, my grandmother, Ruth Lillian Hoekstra. My mother learned to sew in Home Economics, but I never took that class in high school. From this, you can see how the craft of needlework died off in my mother's line.

I taught myself how to sew after my daughter was born when wanted to make her clothes. I also taught myself needlework such as crochet, knitting, cross stitch and plastic canvas work. These crafts are well practiced by the women in my father's family, but since I didn't grow up with extended family, I was never taught these by them. One of my dad's sisters moved to the area from Michigan in the 1980s, a few years after our own family moved from Alaska to Eastern Washington. She's always been available when I need help finding patterns or materials, or improving a technique.

I have tried to teach my daughter how to sew, crochet and do cross stitch. She has had a difficult time with all of them, and I think her lack of interest has overwhelmed any attempts she's made. However, she draws great quirky doodles and can make the loveliest cards and scrapbook pages. She also has recently shown an interest in beading and macramé.

When I was little, my dad and I collected stamps, and my mom started a coin collection. For a number of years, my son developed a fine coin collection and would do extra chores to earn money to purchase antique ones at a local numismatic shop. Nowadays, my dad has a fine model railroad collection; he specifically collects Marx toy railroads, and comes to Spokane frequently to buy, sell, and trade at model railroad and antique toy shows.

2 comments:

I'm not particularly good at crafts in general, but enjoy scrapbooking when I have the time. My daughter is 10, and is fairly adept at arts and crafts. My mother and grandmother were both highly skilled at crocheting. My grandmother was an excellent seamstress, and could knit even the most complicated outfits.

There's just so many projects and so little time these days, don't you think? Life takes over and the fun stuff takes a back seat.